Dobbins does his talking on the field

Tim Dobbins made a key play on special teams in Week 4, recovering a fourth-quarter onside kick in Pittsburgh to keep the Chargers alive in an otherwise dreadful game.

A reporter asked him about the play, and Dobbins shook his head. “I'm a backup, and backups don't talk,” Dobbins said. “Go talk to a starter.”

Well, guess what. With inside linebacker Kevin Burnett doubtful with an ankle injury and likely to miss a second straight game, Dobbins will start again tomorrow against the Raiders.

So he's talking now, right?

Nope.

Dobbins remains elusive to the media, and that doesn't surprise his teammates at all.

“It's just the person he is,” said fellow linebacker Stephen Cooper. “Since he's been here, he's been to himself. He'll talk, but he's not out there flamboyantly talking all kinds of nonsense. He's all about coming to work and getting the job done.”

Dobbins couldn't have performed much better than he did in last week's victory over the Chiefs. He led the Chargers with 11 tackles, pulled in his second career interception and broke up a pass.

Chargers head coach Norv Turner called it the best game he's seen Dobbins play.

“Tim's been a good player here,” Turner said, “and we tell our guys regularly, if you get the opportunity you've got to make the most of it.

“He's going to get playing time (because of Burnett's injury). He's going to be the guy. When you play that well two weeks in row, and then three weeks in a row, you usually get to stay in there.”

A fifth-round pick out of Iowa State in the 2006 draft, Dobbins didn't have much of a role beyond special teams in his first two years with the Chargers. But the Nashville, Tenn., native got eight starts last year and made one of the biggest plays of the season.

In the AFC wild-card playoff game against the Colts, Dobbins sacked Peyton Manning at his own 1-yard line on a third-down play to get the ball back for the Chargers, who would get the game-tying field goal and go on to win in overtime.

Dobbins' play, however, apparently wasn't strong enough to give him full backing, and the Chargers made Burnett their one significant free-agent signing in the offseason.

Recognized for a strong work ethic, Dobbins may have needed extra time to develop, linebacker Shaun Phillips said.

“He's struggled at times, but he's starting to finally get the flow of things,” Phillips said. “He's understanding how to be a professional and play the game the way it's supposed to be played. He has a lot more to come.”

Nwagbuo questionable

Beyond Burnett and center
Nick Hardwick
(ankle), who remains out, the only other Charger on the injury list is nose tackle
Ogemdi Nwagbuo
(ankle), who is questionable.

Turner expressed hope that Nwagbuo can play, because the first-year player out of Mt. Miguel High and Southwestern College has been an integral part of a three-man rotation in the middle that also involves
Ian Scott
and
Travis Johnson.
Turner said that when all three are healthy, their ability to sub allows the line to stay fresher late into the game.

Blackout lifted

The Chargers sold enough tickets by the 1 p.m. deadline yesterday to lift the local television blackout, and the game will be shown on KFMB Channel 8.

Around the league

•Browns defensive coordinator
Rob Ryan
isn't happy about a protest some fans are planning for the Monday night game Nov. 16 against Baltimore.

Mike Randall
and
Tony Schafer,
longtime season ticket holders and fixtures in Cleveland's famous Dawg Pound, want fans to protest the team's sorry play by staying away from their seats for the opening kickoff of the nationally televised game.

That upsets Ryan. He says Cleveland is “a town that's tough and that loves football” and that he hopes fans instead will encourage the team to “fight harder.”

•The Vikings will be without Pro Bowl cornerback
Antoine Winfield
(foot injury) when they face the Packers in a pivotal NFC North game tomorrow.

•KSWB Channel 5/69, the Fox affiliate in San Diego, is prohibited by NFL rules from showing all of the Vikings-Packers game, but since the station is allowed to pick up network programming starting at 4 p.m., the last part of the 1:15 p.m. game should be available to local viewers.